Daimyo

A daimyo was the head of a clan in feudal Japan. Daimyo ruled over pieces of land granted to them by the Emperor as a reward for his services, and they were immensely powerful, with Japan being heavily decentralized and daimyo warlords ruling over the provinces. The Genpei War of 1180-1185 and the Sengoku Period of 1479-1600 saw warlords across Japan compete for power from their regions, and in 1600 Ieyasu Tokugawa united Japan as one shogunate. Daimyo were permitted to hold land, but these fiefs would be domains that were subject to the rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate, which centralized power. The daimyo would go on to split into pro-Tokugawa Shogunate and Imperial factions as Japan grappled with modernization in the mid-19th century, and the shogunate would be overthrown in 1869. Emperor Meiji's first actions were to abolish the domains, the title of daimyo, and to end the samurai traditions of Japan.